Thank you to Simona Onori, Associate Professor in Energy Science and Engineering at Stanford University, who presented From EVs to the Grid: Unlocking Second-Life Battery Potential with AI at the Institute of Transportation Studies Transportation Seminar on Friday, September 12, 2025.
Abstract: The transition to electric mobility is producing a rapidly growing supply of retired lithium-ion batteries, many of which still retain substantial usable capacity. Repurposing these batteries for second-life applications, most notably grid storage, offers a powerful opportunity to extend value, reduce waste, and advance the principles of a circular economy. This seminar will present methodologies developed at the Stanford Energy Control Laboratory for classifying and sorting second-life cells, with emphasis on diagnostic and prognostic techniques for state-of-health estimation. I will discuss both offline characterization methods and online adaptive frameworks, highlighting how machine learning–based models can capture nonlinear degradation dynamics and guarantee BIBO stability in real-time estimation. These approaches are designed to support scalable and reliable integration of repurposed batteries into grid storage systems.
Bio: Simona Onori is an Associate Professor in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering (ESE) at Stanford University, where she specializes in energy systems and battery management. Her research focuses on lithium-ion battery aging, modeling, control, and health estimation, with applications in electric vehicles, grid storage, and sustainable energy systems. She has contributed to numerous publications and patents on real-time monitoring systems, battery aging models, and second-life battery management strategies. She is an SAE Fellow (2022), an NSF CAREER awardee (2017), and a C3E Award recipient (2020). Her work aims to advance sustainable mobility, enhance battery performance and reliability, and support the transition to a low-carbon energy future.